Common Beginnings
by Sora Moto
Summary: It began when he saved her and her friend from a monster and from it something grew that turned her world upside down. IshMas UraKas Prequel to Not Again!
1. Chapter 1

I am really sorry that I didn't get a chapter out last week, and this week isn't looking much better

I know I should work on Not Again, but I have a bit of writer's block on that so you guys get a side story about how things began. I hope you enjoy it.

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Higurashi Kasumi was a nerdy girl by all standards. She wore glasses and usually had her hair braided into pigtails, freckles were sprinkled on her cheeks making her seem more juvenile than her 16 years. She loved science and had always been attracted to the supernatural.

Her best friend was and had been for many years, Fujishima Masaki, was her complete opposite. She had long beautiful hair that had many of the girls in their school jealous and she always had a confident air about her that made her seem so much more mature than all those around her. She was also on the soccer team and a star that many felt would go onto bigger and better things.

So what kept these two so close through so many differences, they both could see spirits. And it was this shared talent that led them down a path that would change their lives forever.

They had been walking past the park on their way home from school. It was late, Masaki's practice had run late and Kasumi had waited for her to finish. As the two turned the corner to enter the park they heard a loud explosion and braced themselves with a squeal as the shockwave blew over them. When they looked up they were surprised to see a large monster crouched not far from them, it was wearing a white mask and was snarling at something in front of them.

As the dust cleared a figure was revealed standing between the monster and themselves. He was holding a sword in one hand while the other reached up to adjust the green stripped hat on his head. His pale blonde hair was shaken free of dirt that had been collected during what the girls assumed was a fight with the monster. He stood in a lazy stance in the wooden sandals he wore and both girls were curious about his traditional clothing, short baggy pants and a green happy, they couldn't see any more of him than that as his back was to him.

"Mah, Hollow-san, perhaps we should move to somewhere less likely to involve innocent young girls?"

A piercing, warbling cry was the only answer to his inquiry before the monster charged the man. The girls watched as he brought his sword up and the mask on the monster split, the monster dissolving into nothing. It was too much for Kasumi though and she fainted causing her friend to cry out softly and kneel at her side. This little amount of activity was enough to draw the attention of the man standing not far from them.

"Hmmm?" He walks over to them and watches with surprise as Masaki takes a defensive stance over her friend, not sure about this man's intentions. "Oh, you can see me!" He didn't look surprised, but his tone said he was. "Your friend could see me too, couldn't she?" Masaki found herself getting even more defensive over her friend at seeing the man's scruffy appearance and unshaven stubble, that he was moving still closer to them only put her more on edge and she swung her soccer ball at him, using the netting that she carried it in to add to its force.

The ball came up short and the man looked at her curiously as though he didn't realize what she had just done. "That wasn't really necessary was it?" He sheathed his sword and Masaki noticed that it was nothing more than a concealed cane sword.

"What was that thing?" She appeared to relax but was still tense enough that she could spring into action if the suspicious looking man did anything.

"Hmm, you mean the hollow? Nothing you need to concern yourself with." He waved off her question as though he hadn't just answered it. "Your friend seems to have been overwhelmed by its presence." He made a move toward Kasumi but Masaki got in his way.

"What do you think you're doing?" She glared at him, her body telling him to back off.

"I was simply going to take her someplace more comfortable than the ground. It isn't healthy for a young lady to lay on the ground after fainting." He said it so casually that Masaki grew more defensive and glared at him, "Ah, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Urahara Kisuke. I own a shop nearby and it would be much easier to take her there to rest than somewhere further away." His over polite manners and blank look while he introduced himself made Masaki wonder if this guy was as much of a threat as she had thought. The image of him slicing the monster and killing it in a single blow flashed through her mind and she shuddered rebuilding her resolve.

"No, I'll take her home..." She looked after the man as he carried her friend off at a slow pace. She didn't remember him moving past her, she hadn't been that distracted had she, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Running after him as she shouted, she noticed he sped up and she glared at him trying to keep up.

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Not long after leaving the park Urahara had gone into a run down looking shop in a hidden away back alley, leaving the fuming Masaki running to catch up with them at the door. Upon entering the shop he got a raised brow from Tessai at the girl in his arms. Not saying anything Urhara walks pat him with a sly grin on his face just as the door is thrown open and an angry Masaki storms in.

"You! Hand over Kasumi, you freaky pervert!" She was breathing heavily, huffing in anger and from having run after the casual speed demon.

"I said that it would be better for her to lie down somewhere other than the ground. I'm simply providing such a place." His relaxed attitude was obviously making the girl even angrier and he smirked to himself at so easily riling the girl up.

His fun was cut short at the same moment as Masaki was about to scream at him in frustration by a hand being placed on his shoulder and a rough lazy voice butting in. "Kisuke, give her back her friend and leave her alone. I know you've been bored, but aggravating school girls is not the best way to alleviate your boredom." The tall man with the scruffy beard and an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth had somehow maneuvered Kasumi from Urahara's arms to his own and moved toward the heaving young woman. "I apologize for my friend. He seems to find too much fun in picking on people to amuse himself." He hands Kasumi to Masaki and backs away as she checks her friend over while keeping one eye on Urahara. She glances at the bearded man and blushes at seeing his smile.

"Thank you. We should be going now." She shifts Kasumi so that she can carry her more easily, but the shifting awakens the unconscious girl.

Kasumi blinks open her eyes and looks up at the three men in the shop; then, being the shy one of the two friends, blushes brightly at noticing the eyes all focused in their direction. "Ma Masaki. Where are we?"

Masaki sighs at the delay in their departure, sure that one guy with the cigarette was cute, but the guy with the hat was just creepy. Then there was the guy in the apron that just stood there, staring. He gave her the willies. "I can tell you on the way home." She practically dragged her blushing friend out of the shop.

"Ah, thank you for saving us earlier." Was the last thing heard by those inside the shop as the two girls left.

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Ah this will most likely be full of fluff and cute romance. It's just a how they met story. I hope you all enjoyed it and plan to continue reading it.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the support I hope you're all enjoying this side story while I work things out in Not Again

Thank you for the support I hope you're all enjoying this side story while I work things out in Not Again! The purpose of this story is to explain how Kasumi and Masaki met Urahara and Isshin. I hope I can do this well and not upset people with any out of characterness that may come up. I think Urahara would have been the one to change the least as he has been exiled for several centuries by the time this story starts. Anyway, without further delay...

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"Masaki?" Kasumi was being dragged by her friend after they had left the strange shop. She looked back over her shoulder with a slight blush remembering the handsome, if unrefined, man that had saved them from the monster.

"No." Masaki herself couldn't get her mind off the shop either, though her mind was more focused on the man that had helped them leave. She smothered the thoughts as she felt her face warm with a blush and coughed into one hand to disguise the fact.

"Masaki, you should have at least said thank you to him. He saved us from that monster." Kasumi stumbled a bit as Masaki continued to drag her in her wake.

"Kasumi that guy was a pervert that carted you off as soon as he got a chance." Masaki got angrier just thinking about the creepy pervert and what he might have done to her friend if the guy with the cigarette hadn't stepped in.

Kasumi watched as Masaki's expression went from angry to dreamy as she stewed on the happenings in the shop. Grinning she tries to goad her friend into reveling her thoughts about its occupants. "He was pretty cool looking though." She watched her friend's expression slyly to determine her reaction, hoping she was distracted enough by her thoughts.

Luck was with Kasumi as she heard her friend's reply. "Yeah, that cigarette made him look really cool." The dreamy look on Masaki's face became even deeper and she got a pink tint to her cheeks as her eyes widened slightly realizing what she'd said. "Uh..."

Kasumi giggled and the two stopped, Masaki releasing Kasumi's hand. "So you like the bad boy types Masaki?" She grins at her friend's deepening blush.

"Sh shut up, Kasumi." Kasumi's teasing had thrown her further off balance than she was before and she turns away to hide her growing blush.

"Do you want him to save you next time?" The grin remained.

"Ah... Uh..." Masaki suddenly finds a way to turn the tables on her friend and grins herself. "No, I don't think I like being the princess in need of a knight to save me. You seem to be perfectly happy with being rescued from monsters by that shaggy guy in the hat though."

"Ah..." It was now Kasumi's turn to imitate a tomato as she blushed brightly at her friend's insinuation. "It, it's getting late. We should get home." And she hurries on past Masaki while ignoring her friend's quiet laughter.

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Urahara was lounging in a back room of the shop with Isshin looking at him curiously, lazily using an arm propped on his knee to hold his head up. "So... Kisuke. I never pegged you for having a fetish for younger girls." He watched his friend for any sort of reaction.

"Mmm, but all girls are cute and should be treated with respect Kurosaki-san." Nothing but a playful grin on his face.

"And that's why she was screaming at you about being a pervert?" A raised eyebrow and Isshin looked a bit confused.

"Mmm, no I believe that was because I stole away her friend so I could get them to both come here for their own safety." Urahara's expression went from playful to serious rather quickly and it shook Isshin from his jovial mood.

"Their safety?"

"Mmm. They were both able to see the hollow I had gone to deal with and surely you noticed they both have large amounts of reitsu?" He tapped a fan to his chin in a thoughtful manner.

Isshin scratches his head while he thinks about the meeting he had with the girls. "You're right, but we can't just keep them here. They have families and school."

"Then perhaps we should keep an eye on them to keep them safe. Their power seems to be a new development though or they would not have been so shocked at seeing the hollow." Urahara looks to his friend for a response.

Sighing and scratching his head again Isshin looks up at Urahara. "I think I should keep close to them then. I'm sure that if that one that was yelling at you saw you she would throw a fit." He closes his eyes and scratches his head again, "Geez I hope they don't live to far apart."

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The next day Kasumi and Masaki went to school having almost forgotten about their strange encounter the day before. It wasn't until lunch when the girls saw the man with the cigarette standing outside the school by the gate, that they realizede the incident in the shop had really happened.

"I wonder why he's standing out there Masaki." Kasumi was casually eating from her bento as she gazed out the window at the man.

"How should I know? I just hope that the creepy pervert isn't out there as well." Masaki bit into her sandwich and watched as one of the teachers went out to the gate to ask the man to leave. "He really shouldn't be smoking on school grounds, student or not."

Kasumi grins at her friend, "So, do you want to go and ask him why he's here?" She giggles good-naturedly at her friend as she chokes a bit on her juice she had been sipping.

"Kasumi!" She nearly whined as her friend's giggles became full fledged laughter. "It's not that funny." Masaki huffs and looks back out the window to see that the teacher had gotten the man to leave the school grounds, though he was now standing across the street from the school. "I do want to ask about that monster though."

Kasumi sobered up at bit at the mention of the monster. She was concerned about it herself. While she had never seen something like that before it reminded her of her father's stories about demons and she wondered if it was things like that which inspired the tales. "I wonder if there are more of them."

Masaki looked at her friend with concern, remembering the wording that the creepy guy in the hat had used when describing the monster. "I hope there aren't, but I have the feeling there are." Making up her mind she finishes her sandwich and grabs her bag. "I'm gonna go ask that guy, he may know what the deal is with those monsters."

Kasumi watched her friend go out the door and then saw her come out from the building a few minutes later. Sighing she keeps watch as her friend goes across the street to the man with the cigarette.

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Isshin was standing across from the school, lazily trying to decide if he should actually light the cigarette in his mouth to pass the time till he would follow the girls to their homes. He had already had to deal with two hollows that had come after them. As he was contemplating what he should do he didn't see the spitfire blond approaching him till she had snagged the cigarette from his mouth.

"Smoking is bad for your health." She tossed it aside and avoided eye contact with him as he looked at her in surprise at her sudden appearance. "Even if it does make you look cool." She said the last quietly and with a blush on her face as she tried to compose herself.

Isshin sheepishly put a hand behind his head and laughed lightly, "Thanks. I've been trying to quit so I usually just keep an unlit one in my mouth though. But I think that having a cute girl tell me it's bad for me I may have found better motivation." He smiles jovially at her as her blush deepens and she seems to get a bit angry.

"Well excuse me. How was I supposed to know?" She glares at him, her blush forgotten at the perceived insult. "Anyway I came to ask you about that monster that attacked my friend and I yesterday."

"Hmmm, you mean the hollow?" He looks at her curiously as she nods.

"Yeah, if that's what they're called. There aren't more of them are there?" She looked at him a bit worriedly having voiced her question and fear.

Isshin just looks at her and scratches his head, turning away at her hopeful look, "There are lots more. Sorry but you should know the truth about that at least. Kisuke may have gone about it the wrong way but he had brought you and your friend to the shop for your own protection. The fact that you can see those monsters means that you'll look even more appetizing to them and they will keep coming after you and your friend."

Isshin looks back at the girl and almost feels sorry for her as he sees the look of fear on her face. "But..."

"Don't worry. Nothing's going to get you or your friend. I'm going to be staying near you two at all times so that if a hollow comes after either of you I can stop it." He smiles at her and she feels her knees get a bit weak. Masaki had never been as much of a romantic as her friend, Kasumi, but to hear that a guy was willing to risk his safety to make sure she and her friend were safe was getting to her.

"Uh... I guess I should apologize to your friend then. I said some really mean things to him." She looked ashamed at her actions toward the man that had only been trying to help.

Isshin laughed at her comment about apologizing. "Don't, you were mostly right anyway. Kisuke tends to act without thinking when cute girls are involved and so while he wanted to keep you safe he went about it the wrong way." Isshin grins at her and she looks at him with a bit of shock. "Don't worry, that's just the way he is."

"I think I should worry if that's just the way he is." Masaki sweat dropped at his comment, but blushed as his smile made her feel safe.

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That was a cute chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. I would have gotten this up yesterday but we had a tornado warning and I was too distracted to work on it. Class was canceled though. Anyway the next chapter should have more fluff between Kasumi and Urahara.


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